China Study Tour: The Way Home

I’ve just now (In November) realised that I don’t have a log for the journey home so I’m basing all of this on a bit of memory so I may miss a couple of minor things.

We were up and moving early, we had to be on the road in time to make it to the airport for our flight back to Hong Kong, even though it was late in the afternoon. As we left we thanked the staff in the dorms for their generous hospitality (and leniency on the curfew with us). Before loading up into the bus for the ride back to the airport we took a group photo (or three) using my camera and the timer, I remember slipping on a tile for one of the photos and nearly breaking my leg.

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China 2017: Day Eight

China 2017: Day Eight

Got up early despite the overly comfortable bed inviting me to stay a while longer. Had to get downstairs for the buffet breakfast though so up and moving it was. The buffet was amazing. First opportunity for some western food in a while. I ended up with a bowl of rice krispies and cacao nibs (rice bubbles and coco pops) to start with, then proceeded to a plate of bacon and eggs with a slice of toast. Didn’t even think how my body would react to suddenly getting the food it was more used to after a week of eating stuff it wasn’t. Echo was struggling with the cutlery, they apparently didn’t have chopsticks in the hotel at all.

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China 2017: Day Seven

China 2017: Day Seven

Today was a bit of a quiet one compared to the rest of the week. We started with a trip back to Muslin Market as a few people (myself included) needed to pick up a few more souvenirs.

Mine were mostly things I’d planned to get for others. We were only given around an hour in the end to find and buy the last of our souvenirs so I got a little frustrated with Michael when he started pointing out the purchases I was making were bad deals. I could have haggled more but didn’t want to waste too much time on it, and I had some spare money to spend so I didn’t really care too much. (more…)

China 2017: Day Six

China 2017: Day Six

Started the day with a tour of the historical museum, learned about some of the artistic and cultural history of China as well as the evolution of the written Chinese language. We also had a calligraphy session where we learned to draw some Chinese symbols. One that was the basis of all symbols, and one really bloody complex one.

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China 2017: Day Five

China 2017: Day Five

On the go early, had a class of tai chi and kung fu in the morning. It was still quite hot even at that early hour so the class was cut short. What we learned was interesting though, and really showed how tai chi can be a soothing or even meditative exercise when done right as it really flows from one position to the next.

Planned to go shopping with a group that was heading out, but discovered my envelope containing all my documents (except my passport) had gone missing. So I ended up staying back at the dorms looking for it. Haven’t found it yet so I think that it’s gone. (more…)